


Shopping Mall

by QueenCelina33



Series: Drowned in Ink AU [6]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: AU, Allison is best cartoon daughter and I love her, Alternate Universe, Family, Gen, Shopping, This toony family gives me life I swear, batim au, from a random lady, transphobia in chapter two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 10:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17364389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenCelina33/pseuds/QueenCelina33
Summary: The Stein family decides to head to the local mall to get some after Christmas presents for the cartoons. It may not be a typical visit to the mall, but, after all, they aren't a typical family.





	1. To The Mall We Go

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! I have a little story today! This started out as just a story of the Stein family heading to the mall and I made two chapters and I love how this story came out. Hope you enjoy!

“Linda, do I really gotta wear dis,” asked Bendy as Linda carefully wrapped a scarf around his neck. He was already dressed in a small white coat and beanie, and Linda was wrapping a sepia colored scarf with black dots around his neck. 

The woman chuckled as she finished. She was wearing a light pink coat with fluff on the collar. “Well, it’s cold out there, Bendy,” she responded. “We wouldn’t want you to freeze.”

Boris, dressed in a gray coat, scarf, and beanie, chuckle as Alice stands as his side, dressed in a light purple jacket. They had already dressed themselves for the cold weather outside, but Bendy didn’t want to put on his jacket and other clothes. However, Linda had convinced him to let her dress the Devil Darling.

Henry, in his nice black hat and black coat, looked at Bendy with a smile, before turning to see Allison and Tom, the angel dressed in a red jacket and Tom in a dark blue one with fluff around his neck. Their wedding rings shined from their fingers, as did Henry and Linda’s rings. 

The holidays were in full swing and the town where the Stein family lived was ringing with holiday cheer. Lights decorated many of the houses along their street and the countdown to Christmas was in full swing.

In the Stein house, the toons and humans had already prepared for the holidays and had set up their tree, wrapped presents, and even made food for the party at the studio. Though this wasn’t the first Christmas Bendy, Boris, and Alice had spent with Henry and Linda, this would be the first real Christmas for Tom and Allison. They had already been taught many human traditions and they seemed excited for the holiday to come.

The animator smiled and asked, “Tom, Allison, ready to go?” 

The wolf and angel looked at each other, Allison looking a little unsure of herself. However, she nodded and answered with, “Um… yes, Henry.”

Tom smiled. “We’re ready.”

*****

The streets were bustling as the Stein family made their way down the sidewalk of their town, almost everyone in the group with big smiles on their faces. The stores along the sidewalks were lit up and displayed clothes, jewelry, and other trinkets, all decorated for the season. Henry and Linda led the way, Bendy on one side, Boris and Alice on the other, Allison and Tom following closely behind. The couples were holding hands as they walked, the toony siblings giggling with excitement. 

Allison’s yellow eyes moved around rapidly. She could see random people walking on the other sidewalk or who passed them would give them stares. The gazes they were receiving were of confusion and almost like some anger, and it was making the angel nervous. Despite knowing that no one was going to try and hurt her out here, she was still paranoid from her time in the studio; the time where she had to be on alert for everything.

Tom seemed to notice her apprehension and he squeezed her hand a little tighter. Allison looked up at him, turning her head. “Tom, I don’t like this. People are staring.”

The wolf frowned and tilted his head. “I know, Sweetie, but people only do that when they see something they’re not used to. No one is going to hurt you, I promise.” His frown turned to a more sly expression. “Besides, they don’t know what kind of beauty they’re looking at.”

A small blush crossed Allison’s face and she chuckled. “Thanks, Tommy.”

*****

The doors to the mall were pushed open and in stepped the Stein family. Allison hadn’t been paying too much attention to her surroundings for the past few minutes. However, as soon as they stepped in, her eyes seemed to light up in fascination.

The building they had stepped into was gigantic, probably bigger than some of the rooms in the studio. There were openings and entrances to what she could tell were stores, with large walkways between them. There were benches and plants decorating the walkways and the sounds of people talking were very clear in her ears.

Henry took off his hat and looked to the toons. “Alright, guys, where do you want to head first?”

Bendy immediately began to jump up and down and smiled widely. “Oh, oh, Henry! Can we go to the toy store?! Pretty please?!”

Henry and the others chuckled at the Dancing Demon’s excitement and he nodded. “Sure, Ben. We can go to the toy store.”

“YAY!” shouted the demon with his arms up. He then took off towards the inner stores with the others walking behind.

Tom and Allison were still in shock of this place and they turned to look at their mother. “Linda,” asked Tom. “What is this place?”

Linda’s green eyes moved to the cartoony couple. “Well, this is a mall. It’s a big collection of small stores, mostly small brands trying to get off the ground. Sometimes, big brands have stores in malls. There’s also a food court, we’ll head there to get something to eat later.” She looked to see Bendy heading for the store of his choice and she giggled. “Looks like Bendy’s excited. There must be some new toy he wants.”

Allison glanced at Tom with some confusion. This was still very new to them and they were still learning a lot about the world of humans and outside the studio.

The rest of the Stein family finally caught up to Bendy and everyone looked in awe.

The store was colorful, with toy planes and trains moving above their heads. The walls were lined with shelves of books and board games and boxed dolls and action figures. The tables in front of them and scattered around the store had very neat stacks of bears, dolls, among other toys and trinkets. The carpet was red with colorful stars and triangles and the walls had paintings and drawings hanging on them.

Allison couldn’t remove her eyes from the sight before her, at least, until Tom nudged her with his elbow. She shook her head and looked to Henry.

“Alright, guys,” Henry spoke. “Go pick out a few toys for each of you. We’ve got some money to spend, so go pick out something nice.”

Bendy, Boris, and Alice nodded and split up, heading to different parts of the store. Henry and Linda sat down on a nearby bench and Allison stood in place with Tom. They were both very confused by this place and Henry noticed this. “Allison, Tom,” he said to them. When they turned their gazes to him, he grinned. “How about you guys follow the others and see if you can find something you like?”

The cartoons nodded and they split, Tom following Bendy and Allison following Alice.

*****

Tom had made his way to where Bendy was and found the Devil Darling admiring a toy set with a rocket, some astronauts, and a few other tiny things. Tom looked at it with a raised brow. “Bendy, what is that?”

The demon turned to look at him with lit up eyes and his signature smile. “Dat’s a toy rocket, Tom! See, there’s a big place called space beyond where we live, way up above the clouds, and they used a big thing called a rocket ta get some people up there!” Bendy pantomimed what he was saying with his hands, making the motion of the rocket taking off. “Henry told me he saw it one TV! And! And! There was another rocket dat went all the way ta the moon! We saw the rocket taking off on TV! It was so cool!”

Tom chuckled, putting a hand on his hip. Bendy seemed enthusiastic about this space stuff. He looked back at the toy rocket, seeing that it also came with some smaller things and three action figures of men. “Who are those little guys, Bendy?”

Bendy looked back at the toy. “Oh! Those are the astronauts that went to the moon! Dat’s Neil Armstrong, dat’s Buzz Aldrin, and dat’s Michael Collins.” He smiled again. “They worked for a big company called NASA dat does space stuff!” He reached up and picked up the toy in its package. “I’ve always wanted a toy like dis, I just never saw ‘em in the store until now.”

He could see that Bendy was very passionate about this and Tom kneeled to his level. “Is that what you want, Bendy?”

“Mmhmm. I really want it, but it’s kinda expensive.”

Tom saw that big smile change to a little frown and he felt himself feel crushed. He thought for a moment, before snapping his fingers. “Bendy, I have a lot of money saved from my allowance. Would you like me to pitch in with Henry and Linda and buy that for you?”

The demon snapped his head towards Tom and gasped. “You’d… you’d really do dat for me? But, Tom, it’s your money. You don’t have ta spend it on me!”

Tom chuckled again, patting Bendy’s shoulder. “Bendy, I can tell you really like all this space stuff. I like seeing you happy about things you like. I’ll pitch in so we can get you this.”

Bendy smiled and a little tear formed in one of his eyes. He wiped it away and replied with, “Thanks, Tom. That means a lot ta me.” 


	2. Guardian Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the second chapter! Slight warning for some transphobia from a random lady!

Allison had made her way to where she had seen Alice, the little angel floating on one of her clouds up to a higher shelf. She was holding a package and was now looking at it with bright eyes. Allison looked up at her and called, “Hey, Alice, what did you find up there?”

Alice looked down and smiled at the taller angel. “Hey Allison! Check out this that I found!” She slowly floated down and when she was back the ground, the cloud dissipated. She held out the package to Allison. “It’s a tea set!”

Allison looked it over. There was a teapot in the middle with a smaller sugar bowl and creamer pitcher on either side of it. There were also four plates and cups. She raised a brow. “Why does this teapot and other stuff come with plates?”

Alice chuckled. “Well, back in the old days, ladies would have tea with those cups and those plates. Those little ones for the cups are actually called ‘saucers.’ The ladies would have tea and things like little cakes.” She smiled and clasped her hands. “I’ve wanted a set like this for a while so I can have tea parties with my dolls.”

Allison’s mind was still processing the idea of a tea party, but it sounded nice. Alice’s face fell and she suddenly said, “‘But, it’s not cheap. It’s actually kinda expensive and I don’t want Henry and Linda to spend too much money.”

The tall angel could see that Alice was very dejected at the idea of not being able to get the tea set, and she felt her heart clench a bit. She thought before an idea popped into her head. “Alice,” she asked.

“Yes?”

“If I pitched in some of my allowance, would you like to get this tea set?”

Alice’s face lit up and she beamed. “Oh, my goodness, that would be great!”

Allison put a hand on her shoulder. “C’mon, let’s take this to Henry and see.”

*****

Boris blew the dust off of a package he had picked up. It was a box with pieces for a model train he had wanted for a while now, and he had found the last one shoved to the back of the shelves.

“Hey, Boris!” 

The wolf turned to see his taller counterpart with the Little Devil Darling. Bendy had a toy package in his arms and he looked very happy with his tail wiggling back and forth. Boris smiled. “Heya, guys! Did you find something good, Ben?”

Bendy nodded and showed him the toy rocket with its small men and accessories. Boris’ eyes went wide. “Whoa, that neat, Ben! Is that the rocket we saw take off!”

“Yep, and Tom said he’ll pitch in so we can get it!”

Tom chuckled with his hands in his pockets. “It’s no trouble, I have a lot saved from my allowance.” He looked at what Boris had. “What did you find, buddy?”

Boris smiled. “Oh, I found this train! It’s a model, so you can put it together yourself! I’ve always wanted one, so I looked to see and found this one all the way on the back of the shelf.” He smiled and looked with a soft gaze at the train. “I really want it, so I saved up a lot of my allowance for it. I just hope I can put it together.”

Bendy nodded. “We can help ya if ya need it, buddy! How about we head back ta Henry and Linda and show ‘em what ya found?”

Boris nodded. “Sure!”

*****

Henry and Linda looked up when they heard steps coming in their direction and saw all the toons walking to them with toys in their hands. He looked over each of the price tags and listened to Allison and Tom’s idea of the toons pitching in. Henry nodded and the headed to the check out.

As the cashier talked and added up the price of the toys, Allison could hear shouting behind her, shouting like someone was angry. She turned on her heels to see an employee of the store, a young female looking person in a red apron, being yelled at by a woman who looked very much like a mother. She was pointing and yelling at the employee and had a hand on her hip. Allison didn’t know why, but she felt the need to see what was going on.

She took steps towards the two, her boots clicking loudly. When she was a few feet away, she listened in to the employee and the woman.    
“I will NOT be helped by you, young  _ man! _ I don’t care what you say, you are a man!”

“Please, madame, you’re making a scene. Just let me help you and we can get you all checked out.”

“Not if  _ you _ are going to be checking me out! Why would they even let a freak like you into this kind of store! Do you know what you’re doing to the children!? You’re poisoning their minds!”

Allison was confused, but stepped forward and spoke. “What’s going on here?”

The woman and employee turned to look at Allison, the woman furrowing her eyebrows in confusion at the sight of the angel. She didn’t know what she was, but she didn’t care. She pointed to the employee. “This  _ man  _ is claiming he’s a woman! You cannot be a woman if you’re a man and I will not let him touch the toys I want for my children.”

Allison turned her gaze to the worker. They were of average height for a man, but had long hair and makeup and a chest that was anything but flat. She turned back to the mother. “That looks like a woman to me. I don’t see what you’re talking about.” She put her hands on her hips. 

The mother looked furious and watched as the employee inched closer to Allison, as if looking to her for protection. “A man cannot be a woman! I don’t care how he looks, he’s not a woman! He can try all he wants, he will never be a real woman.”

Allison felt her insides beginning to boil. This was a touchy subject for her and she was not going to let this bigotry stand in a public place for children. She walked closer to the woman, her height of six feet and five inches making her tower over the mother. “Why does it matter to you? Just because you can’t see her as a woman doesn’t make her any less female. She sees herself as female and that’s what matters. Sex can’t be changed, but gender can. Gender isn’t something set in stone, it’s a way for a person to see themselves and define who they are.”

She pointed a finger at the woman. “You have no right to tell someone if they’re a man or woman, you’re not some supreme overlord who can tell people what they are and aren’t. You’re obviously just a snobby mother who thinks she can tell people what to do. That’s no mindset to have when raising a child.”

Allison pointed to the exit of the store. “Now, if you’re going to be rude to people who are helping you, why don’t you just take that attitude somewhere else?”

The woman said nothing, just simply glared at Allison before stomping out of the store. There was a moment where the employee just watched, before turning to the angel, who looked down at her with those big yellow eyes. “Who… what… who are you,” she asked.

Allison smiled. “My name is Allison Angel.”

“Why did you help me?”

The toon furrowed her brows with a soft smile. “I know a thing or two about being a decent person, including respecting whether someone sees themselves as a man, woman, or something else.” She frowned a bit. “I would know what it’s like to be discriminated against for seeing yourself as a woman.”

Allison turned to go back to her family, but a hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned back to see the worker with a smile. “Thank you,” she started. “I’ve never really had anyone defend me for being who I am, and… that’s the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. Thank you.” She put a hand on her chest. “I’m Lacey, by the way. If you ever come here and need help with something, ask them for the manager.”

Allison nodded and walked back to the Steins, seeing everyone looking at her. She clasped her hands together. “Did… did I do something wrong?”

Henry was the first to speak. “No, Allison. What you did, defending that employee… that was brave of you. I know that was a tough thing for you to hear, so I’m glad that you know how people should be treated. How about we head home now?”

Allison smiled. “That’d be great.”

Ast he Stein family made their way out of the store, toys in hand, Allison felt a sense of pride. She didn’t plan to defend someone that day, but she was glad she made someone feel better. Maybe life outside the studio wasn’t so different after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it looks like Allison saved the day and went home happy!  
> Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed this story and feel free to read the rest in the series and my story in which this AU stems from, "Drowned in Ink."


End file.
